


If I could turn back

by purgatorycitizen



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Inspired by HIMYM episode, Kissing, M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-21
Updated: 2013-04-21
Packaged: 2017-12-09 02:26:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/768898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purgatorycitizen/pseuds/purgatorycitizen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>« You need to see what happened when you left. » Said the lady.<br/>« I left? » This was unbelievable for Stiles. He would never do something like that.<br/>« Yeah, after high school. You were tired of waiting and you weren’t brave enough to go to him so… You just left Beacon Hills to find your place in the world. You did it. » <i>And you never came back.</i></p>
<p>What would you do, if I could change everything?</p>
            </blockquote>





	If I could turn back

« What’s happening? » Stiles was confused.   
He was in Beacon Hills but this wasn’t the same town, it was different for some reason.   
There was a woman standing next to him, a middle aged lady with long blonde hair and blue eyes, an orchid behind the ear and she had these strange tattoos all over her arms and hands, and probably even on most of the body. She was just a lady, harmless and nice like a normal human being and she was looking at him with a sweet expression on her face, like a mom who was looking at her son. 

But she wasn’t an harmless lady, she was a very special kind of witch, a time traveler. She was able to travel through time and the worlds to get a look in the future and maybe try to change something and fix things. She was good, not harmless.   
She was helping souls to find their way and this time the person who needed help was Stiles Stilinski. He was just a boy, fragile bones and pale skin, weak like any other human being but he was loyal and strong and brave like all the heroes in fairytales. Stiles was special but despite all these good things, he wasn’t brave enough to tell Derek everything about his feelings.   
« Welcome to Beacon Hills, five years later our meeting in the woods. »   
« What?! » His voice was sharper than normal « This is the future. Why? »  
There were rules for everything and taking a quick peek in the future was forbidden because people couldn’t interfere with events. Stiles was an exception, he wasn’t just a normal kid or just the only human member of a werewolves pack: he was the needle of the moral compass between the beasts, he was the heart and the soul for these lost souls and he was the anchor for the angry leader, the alpha without a future and without hopes.   
« You need to see what happened when you left. » Said the lady.  
« I left? » This was unbelievable for Stiles. He would never do something like that.  
« Yeah, after high school. You were tired of waiting and you weren’t brave enough to go to him so… You just left Beacon Hills to find your place in the world. You did it. » _And you never came back._  
Yeah. He lived in Los Angeles and he was engaged with a nice rich girl. He was supposed to be happy and no longer involved with all these supernatural creatures but the truth was that once he left Beacon Hills, everything went bad and the pack no longer existed.  
«There isn’t a pack. » Stiles was shocked « Where is Scott? »  
« He died six months ago, killed by another omega in the woods. » He wasn’t pack anymore, he was an omega and they couldn’t survive alone. Pack was family, home and a safe place in the world, it was everything.   
« I can’t believe it. » Stiles was crying now. His best friend was dead, alone in the woods and without a family to watch his back. He wasn’t there to save him and that was unforgivable. He wasn’t there. « What about Erica, Isaac and Boyd? »  
« Gone. Erica and Boyd are dead. An Alpha killed them two months after you left the town. Isaac quit a few months ago because he couldn’t help Derek Hale. He was too tired to fight against a ghost and to be honest, Scott’s death was too difficult to accept for him. So he left. » Everyone left.   
That was a terrible scenario.   
« And Derek? » Asked Stiles, feeling the guilt on his heart, heavy like a fucking rock.  
« Oh he’s here. But he’s not the same since the day you left. » _He let you go. He didn’t fight for you and now he’s just a shadow, a broken thing without hope._

The Hale house was the same: a wreck, the skeleton of a memory made of broken glasses and burned wood. It was just an abandoned place, away from the town and buried in pain and tears. He knew that Derek wanted to rebuild his family's house and start again, one more time. But that was just a memory.   
Derek Hale was inside, sitting on the dirty floor in a corner of an old bedroom. He was pale and weak, much thinner and older and he was shaking, like he was cold. The strong and determined alpha was gone, leaving a scared man behind, hidden in an old abandoned house, lonely and lost.  
There were tears on his cheeks and bruises and wounds on his body, small and big cuts that were bleeding and deep shadows under his eyes. He was whispering something, confused words without sense, prayers for a god who didn’t want to hear and the painful memory of a lost love.   
« Werewolves need a pack to remain sane. They need a mate to find a place in the world. » Explained the witch with a sad expression on her face « You weren’t there. »  
« He never said anything. » This was an excuse.   
« Yeah, but you were the bravest, the strongest. You were the anchor. And you left. » She was almost angry saying this, but it was necessary because Stiles was special, he was the key for everything. And he needed to know what would happen because of him.   
Derek looked miserable and lonely, stuck between the cruel reality and a terrible delirium: his time traveling was a path without end, he was walking through regrets and lost memories of the past. This was the end and no one could change this, except Stiles.   
« He misses you. He misses you so much. » Said the witch looking at the werewolf on the floor « The only relief is that he will not stay like this for long. At one point, somewhere in the future, he will kill himself and the pain will end. » _He will be better. He will be free._  
« God, why did I leave? » Stiles was crying now.   
« You were tired to wait. And I get it. » Answered the witch putting a hand on his shoulder « But sometimes a simple choice can be the end of everything. You never said what you felt for him and this is just the consequence: cause and effect. » It was simple, like a chemical formula.   
And Derek was there, lost like a child in the woods, with his eyes wide open and full of tears, skinny and aged like a shadow of himself, whispering words without a purpose and repeating his name like a silent prayer. This was the death wish of a doomed man.  
Stiles thought it was too much to handle, he only wanted to escape and forget about seeing the future but that wasn’t an option. Instead he knelt on the floor, grabbed Derek's face between his hands and looked at him, the same way you look at the love of your life for the first time, like he was the most beautiful thing in the world.   
His mate, his love.   
« My anchor, my love. » Whispered the werewolf « My friend, my mate. »  
« Hi, I’m Stiles Stilinski and you know me. I saw you for the first time when I was ten and you were at the police station, waiting for your sister. I fell in love with you that day, and I fell in love with you when I saw you near this house, the night after Scott was bitten by Peter. And I fell in love with you again when I found out that you were a werewolf. » God, there was a lot to say « And I fell in love with you when you asked me to cut your arm because of the wolfsbane’s bullet and after that in the pool, when I saved you. Do you remember Derek? »  
« My anchor, my mate… » Another whisper.   
«I fell in love with you every single fucking day. And exactly five years ago from now, I will tell you that I love you and you will be in love with me. And we’re gonna get married one day because I want to spend my life with you and be your anchor, your best friend and your mate. And we’re gonna have at least two kids, or even more if you want. We're gonna have a chaotic house full of kids and friends. We’re gonna be happy and you’ll be okay. » It was a promise « I can fix this! »  
And then Stiles kissed him. 

 

Stiles woke up in the middle of the night. It was three o’clock in the morning and his dad was out for another night shift. He was breathless and scared because of that strange dream about the future, a terrible future for every one of his friends and for Derek Hale, the man he loved more than anything.  
That dream was so vivid, almost real. And there was that old lady with blonde hair, blue eyes and an orchid behind the ear, but it was just a dream, right? Well, he was wrong. On the desk, right next to the keyboard, there was a beautiful orchid and a note: _Don’t run away. Good luck kid._  
He thought about the future: his friends were dead, Isaac was gone because he couldn’t handle this anymore and Derek was lonely in his family house, whispering about lost memories and hopeless. And he was gone, away from Beacon Hills and his pack, and that was unfair.   
Fifteen minutes later he was outside Derek’s apartment. He was still wearing his pajama pants with the stupid penguins on it and a Marvel DC tee with Iron Man's face. His heart was beating too fast and he was breathless but it didn’t matter because now he knew what to do: he was the brave one, the weak human being always ready to go in the first line and fight. He was the friend, the anchor, the mate.   
When Derek opened the door, he was confused. It was three am and Stiles was there, panting and nervous, tired from the run, with his heartbeat out of control and barefoot. And he was staring at him like he was the most beautiful thing in the world. Because he was.   
« Stiles? What are you doing here? » Asked the werewolf, slightly embarrassed.   
« I need to tell you something and I couldn’t wait. » Fuck, he was nervous « I’m sorry, I know it's late but I couldn’t wait. »  
« Why? » Okay, now Derek was even more confused.   
« Because I need to tell you that I love you. » Wow, that was good « And I’m not going anywhere. »  
And then he kissed him. Yeah, Derek Hale was being kissed by a funny guy with pajama pants and an Iron Man tee and for some reason that was perfect.   
« I’ll never leave you. » That was just a whisper from Stiles’ mouth. He wasn’t lying « And it doesn't matter if you don't love me, yet. My love could be enough for both. I'll never leave you. Not again. »  
« I know. I trust you. » Said Derek, giving him another kiss « And I love you Stiles. »

Across the road, an old woman smiled. And continued her journey. 

_And exactly five years ago from now,_  
I will tell you that I love you and you will be in love with me.  
And we’re gonna get married one day   
because I want to spend my life with you   
and be your anchor, your friend and your mate.   
And we’re gonna have at least two kids, or more if you want.   
We're gonna have a chaotic house full of kids and friends.  
We’re gonna be happy and you’ll be okay  


**Author's Note:**

> This is another one-shot, written in a couple of hours and inspired by episode 8.20 of How I Met Your Mother.   
> I don't have a beta - like always - but my friend Elena helped me with the grammar and eventual errors, so thank you girl. Really, I need to buy her a gift because she's always so nice and ready to help me. Friendship is a gift ❤  
> Feedback is always appreciated.


End file.
